Our celebration of Pride Month continues with another special edition of Press Play. This week, three-time GRAMMY nominationated singer/songwriter Asiahn bares her soul in an exclusive performance of her song "Like You" from her latest album, Love Train 2.
So far this month, she has performed at Roots Picnic in Philadelphia and L.A. Pride in Los Angeles. Asiahn spoke to us about what the LGBTQ+ communtiy means to her and how she's helping promote equality.
"I am a lesbian, so just to be a part of the community is big for me, and then to be an advocate and a person in the music industry to represent for so many others who don't get that representation in the music industry is definitely a big deal," said Asiahn. "Having my single where I'm singing about loving another woman on the radio is a big deal... I feel like we still need some more representation out there, there's still people who aren't represented."
If you're lucky enough to catch her show live with her band, which she calls Asiahn & The Vibe, you'll feel her talent is matched only by her authenticity. The Charleston, S.C.-raised Los Angeles-based artist first became interested in music from her parents and her grandmother, also a vocalist. Asiahn's music talents bloomed, and the versatille artist now plays several instruments, including violin, clarinet, bass clarinet, and bass guitar. Recently, she was also invited to join the Recording Academy as part of its inaugural invite class of 2019.
Y’all .... I’m Officially apart of the @RecordingAcad Thank you to everyone at the Academy for your Love and support!! It’s Lit!! pic.twitter.com/5rrjF3q1t7
— ASIAHN (@IamAsiahn) June 5, 2019
In addition to her accomplishments as an artist, Asiahn also counts an impressive list of songwriting credits under her writing moniker Asia Bryant for other artists, including J. Lo, Miley Cyrus, Drake, Lil Wayne and more. She also was featured on "Just Another Day" from Dr. Dre's Compton album. We asked he what her secret is to writing great songs without getting stuck.
"If I ever get writer's block. I just put the pen down, put the phone down. I go live life. It means you're just not inspired at the moment," she said. "You need to go live some real life and do some real things that inspire you. Sometimes just sitting behind a computer, or behind your phone or pad all the time, you run out of things to say, and you run out of ways to say it, which means it's time to go do something else. Go listen to some different genres of music... go bunjee jump or do some go-karts, lazer tag, do anything to get your creative juices flowing."
You can hear the creative juices flowing in her exclusive performance of "Like You" for Press Play. Enjoy!
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